


Call of Salt and Sand

by PunsBulletsAndPointyThings



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Selkie AU, F/M, GFY, M/M, Rating May Change, sort of a modern au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7009723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunsBulletsAndPointyThings/pseuds/PunsBulletsAndPointyThings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“When was the last time something crazy happened around here?”</p>
<p>Rex should really know better than to say things like that by now. Because he's pretty that finding a naked, unconscious man on the beach constitutes as weird.</p>
<p>Obi-Wan just wants Anakin to come /home/ before he gets himself in serious trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissPop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissPop/gifts), [Poplitealqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poplitealqueen/gifts).



> This is %100 Poplitealqueen's fault. I blame her. (Thank you~)
> 
> The Selkie AU I apparently really, really need.

The rain pounded down on the roof, filling the tiny house with a comfortable layer of familiar white noise. Rex opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, letting the sound wash over him like a wave, filling every crack and crevice of his being until he wasn’t sure where it ended and he began. He let his eyes trace the grain of the planks of wood that separated his bedroom from the small attic and then just floated, as a whisper of thunder twisted through the rain’s steady staccato. He could still make out the sound of the waves faintly, from the not so distant shore, and it joined the tapestry of sound around him.  
  
The world moved slowly, caught up by the rain and made heavy, but not sluggish; just weighted. He inhaled, one long breath in, followed by a steady exhale, air brushing past his lips. Again. Again.  
  
The screech of his alarm clock shattered the almost ethereal peace and Rex groaned, dragging a hand over his eyes before reaching out and slamming the off button. He sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stretched, his spine and shoulders popping.  
  
Now that he was up, he could hear Cody messing around in the kitchen; the clatter of cutlery, the noise of the coffee maker, solid footsteps and the occasional creaking floorboard.  
  
Rex groaned again and scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to banish the sleep from his eyes. Shower. He needed a shower, and then coffee. He stood up, stretched a little more, and then made his way out of his bedroom, making a beeline for the shower.  
  
Ten minutes later, and the hot water had helped immensely to chase away the remaining grogginess and Rex was feeling slightly more human as he tugged on a pair of jeans, a plain black shirt that might be Cody’s, and a pair of knit socks to fight the November chill that permeated the floorboard and was especially nasty at that time of the morning.  
  
Cody was at the table when Rex entered the kitchen. Rex’s twin had a mug in one hand and his phone in the other. He glanced up, and then nodded towards the coffee maker on the counter. “Still hot.”  
  
Rex made a grateful noise and grabbed a clean mug from the cupboard next to the sink. The coffee smelled amazing, and he groaned with his first sip. “You being a barista was the best thing that ever happened to us,” he said, voice muffled by the cup still pressed to his lips.  
  
He got a dirty look for that comment. Honestly, why being called a barista bugged Cody so much, Rex would never know, but ignorance of the cause did not make the teasing any less fun. He flashed his brother a grin, and proceeded to knock back another cup of heavenly, heavenly coffee. Once his veins were happily singing with caffeine, Rex set down his mug and turned to the fridge to find something to eat.  
  
Outside, the rain was still hammering down. A plastic container of cold spaghetti in one hand, Rex stood at the kitchen counter and gazed out the window above the stove, taking in the soaking world beyond the glass.  
  
The combination of excess rain and slate-grey clouds left the world looking saturated, all the grass and trees standing out in brilliant emerald. In the distance, Rex could see the ocean, the cold waves a few shades darker than the sky, speckled through with patches of blue-black darkness and the light white-grey capping the tips of the waves as the wind caught them up and pulled them along. He couldn’t see the beach itself, not at this angle, but in his mind’s eye he could picture the darkened sand and jagged outcroppings of rock. Off to the right, just at the edge of the picture the window framed for him, was the old lighthouse, sprouting out of the ground at the far edge of the town, all but stepping on the toes of the sea.  
  
“You at the station today?” Rex asked, turning away from the window and the rain to join his brother at the table. Cody nodded, his spoon sticking out of his mouth as he scrolled on his phone with one finger, a frown creasing his forehead. Then he plucked the utensil out of his mouth and stuck it back into his bowl, looking up to meet Rex’s eyes.  
  
“Yeah. You’ve got the day off, right?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Cody nodded again, and they sat in silence for a time, letting the rain take the forefront once again. Wolffe padded out of Cody’s room with a cranky meow, walking over to Rex’s chair with a determined air. Smiling, Rex shifted back and let the grumpy, one-eyed cat jump up and settle himself in the blond man’s lap. Rex stroked the cat’s fur, skillfully avoiding touching the places that would get him bitten, and the cranky monster let out a noise that sounded more like an old engine firing up than anything that could rightly be called a purr.  
  
Tup had named Wolffe, when he was visiting them, and Cody had come home one day with a sodden, protesting ball of dark grey fluff that he had found on the side of the rode that led into town. The youngest of Rex’s brothers, Tup had been the only one the one-eyed wreck of a kitten didn’t bite. Despite the irony, Wolffe really did live up to his name, but the years had taught both Fett brothers the skills required to avoid being mauled by their resident ‘flea-bag,’ as Jango had so fondly dubbed the cat, upon their first introduction.  
  
Eventually, Cody got up, dumping his dishes in the sink and disappearing into his room. He reappeared a short time later in his uniform, his dark hair smoothed out of its messy, just-woke-up state. Rex grinned at him, offering the other man a tiny, two-fingered salute.  
  
“Have a good day.”  
  
Cody smiled. “Try not to do anything too wild and crazy.”  
  
Rex’s grin grew wider. “Oh no worries. When was the last time something crazy happened around here?”  
  
Cody laughed, grabbing his raincoat of the rack by the door. “See you tonight, brother.”  
  
Rex waved absently, turning his attention back to the book he had left on the table the night before as Woffle butted his head against Rex's hand impatiently, displeased that the petting had stopped.

* * *

Noon was approaching on swift feet, and the heavy rain showed no signs of slowly down, let alone stopping. Still, Rex was beginning to feel cooped up, so he ducked into his bedroom. His big, black, rubber Hunters boots were leaning against his battered wardrobe. Pulling them on, he spent a few minutes searching until he found the thick woolen sweater his dad had given him years ago. The deep blue wool was as dark as it had ever been, despite the extensive wear it had seen, since Rex had first received it. Heading back out into the living room, Rex grabbed a black tuque off the coat rack by the door, pulling it over his short cropped blond hair. Last came his raincoat; long, black, and with reflective patches on the sleeves and striped down the sides, it was like the boots, a staple for living in the area. Grabbing his keys, wallet, and phone, and zipping them all safely into one of the coat’s many, large pockets, Rex nodded in satisfaction and headed out into the downpour.  
  
It was loud outside, more so than it had seemed while still in the house. Rex grinned, tugging up the hood of his raincoat. He could already feel the water streaming down his face, and his breath fogged in front of his nose.  
  
The walk to the beach was not a long one, but Rex took his time, enjoying the way all the plants seemed to glow against their stormy backdrop and breathing in the scent of the air that was so specific to this type of rain.  
  
He walked in uninterrupted solitude, as few dared to leave the warmth of their homes during such weather. By the time he reached the beach, the rain had slowed a little, no longer falling with the same bruising fury, though the still wicked clouds were a sure promise that this was only a pause, not an end.  
  
The crash of the waves grew louder, and a grin tugged at Rex’s lips as he finally reached the old wooden stairs that offered the easiest access to the beach. He stopped at the bottom, resting one hand on the slick handrail, boots sinking only slightly into the damp sand, and glanced from side to side. Vast stretches of sand and sea on both side, to the left coming to an end with the distant shape of the old lighthouse, to the right the far off, looming cliffs. Rex pondered his options for a few more minutes, before turning right, away from the town.  
  
Rex was no fisherman. He had not grown up on the sea, but his family had, and Rex had always felt the call of the salt water, more so than any of his brothers, though they all knew of it, all felt the tug towards the ocean. ‘A call home,’ Jango had called it, when Rex was young, tucked in bed next to Cody, listening to their father tell them stories that stretched from the cold waters of the North all the way to the warmer Southern seas on the other side of the world, though the words had been shot through with teasing and laughter. Honestly, most days, Rex was pretty sure they had all just grown up eating too much fish.  
  
He grinned at the memory, and wiped the rain from his eyes as he followed the tide line. The rain was still light, and the thunder from that morning had faded away. As a result, the beach was calm and almost quiet, but for the waves and the rain’s patter, punctuated sporadically but the call of sea birds. Rex allowed his mind to wander as he walked. It had been a while since he’s last found time to come down here, and the rain gave everything an almost unreal cast, slightly misty around the edges, making everything seem new and strange. The rain rippled the waves, pot-marking them for brief seconds as the water shifted and changed, and the wind sung mournfully through the rock formations.  
  
The thud of his boots against the wet, packed sand eventually caught the time of his heartbeat, sounding almost like a drum. That set off a train of thought that had Rex frowning, as he tried to remember the lyrics to a song that was dancing at the edges of his memory. Distracted as he was, Rex rounded the first of the smaller, jutting rocks that prefaced the true cliffs without much awareness of his surroundings.  
  
He was snapped out of his musings as a shout went up, a stark and startling change from the regular and repetitive sounds that had become white noise to Rex’s ears. Eyes snapping up, Rex stared in shock at the pale figure hunched over at the water’s edge. A man, he realized, as the figure pushed himself up to his knees and then rose shakily to his feet. He took a step, then tried to take another but he lurched and buckled. Rex darted forwards, getting to his side just in time to catch him as the strange man collapsed forwards, unconscious.  
  
Cradling the man in his arms, Rex stared in confusion, eyes taking in the salt-stained auburn hair and stretches of pale skin and limbs. It suddenly struck him that he was kneeling on the sand, tips of the waves lapping at his knees, in the steadily increasing rain, cradling a very beautiful, very naked, unconscious stranger in his arms.  
  
Rex blinked, and wondered just what he was supposed to such a situation. What on earth had this man been doing? What had happened to his clothes?  
  
Glancing around for any sign or hint of what had befallen the stranger in his arms, Rex caught sight of something floating in the water a few feet away. He frowned, and hanging on to the man with one arm he reached out, stretching until the tips of his fingers brushed soft fur.  
  
Rex yanked his hand back in shock, certain he must have touched a dead animal of some sort. However…no, no that wasn’t right. Rex squinted. A fur, it was just a fur. Reaching out once again, Rex pulled the sodden fur towards him. A seal pelt, soft silvery-grey with wide, sweeping black markings. Still confused, Rex glanced between it and the man in his arms, who was starting to shiver. Frown deepening, Rex stuffed the pelt into a pocked of his coat, which he then tugged off and carefully wrapped around the shaking man.  
  
Perhaps the fur belonged to him? Rex didn’t know why a naked man would be on the beach in the middle of a rainstorm, carrying a seal pelt, but clearly there were no answers forthcoming, not as long as they stayed here. He needed to get this man somewhere warm. And find him something to wear.  
  
As he rose to his feet, cradling the stranger in his arms almost like a child, Rex’s earlier words to Cody floated to the front of his mind.  
  
_“When was the last time something crazy happened around here?”_  
  
“I’m never gonna hear the end of this,” he sighed, as the sky opened up yet again and the rain picked up its earlier, thundering roar. With a soft curse, Rex held the man closer, and began the walk back home.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anakin has a crush, Obi-Wan just wants to keep his family safe, Padme just wants sleep and food, and Rex is not looking forward to explaining all this to Cody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I feel like I should just say, PLEASE DON'T PET WILD ANIMALS, EVEN IF THEY APPROACH YOU AND ACT CUTE. DON'T DO IT. JUST DON'T.
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone for the lovely comments on Chapter One! I hope you all like this one just as much!

“Anakin! Owen! Get back here!”  
  
“Try and catch us!” Anakin called back, twisting around a rock and zipping past Obi-Wan, back the way they had just come, Owen whooping with laughter as he followed.  
  
Obi-Wan bared his teeth in frustration, and he took off after the two dark shapes of his brothers, spinning through the water, weaving around tan-grey rock and green and gold kelp that glowed as it caught the rays of the late sun. It was not a hard thing to catch up to Owen; Obi-Wan was bigger than both of his brothers, and have been swimming this part of the cove longer. Swift as a shadow, Obi-Wan broke away from the direct path, arching around a spindly, barnacle-covered outcrop of rock that protruded up from the seafloor, rising toward the surface and the sun. With a flick of his tail, Obi-Wan speed forwards, catching Owen’s tail in his teeth, forcing the younger selkie to stop with a yelp.  
  
“Obi!”  
  
“Calm down, little brother, you’re fine.” Releasing his brother, Obi-Wan checked, confirming he had left no damage beyond a faint imprint of his teeth. Owen made a displeased noise, but fell into line beside his sibling.  
  
“But why can’t we go?” he complained.  
  
Up ahead, Anakin was a dark, hovering shape between the kelp, where he waited for the other two to catch up. Obi-Wan knew there was no point in trying to outrace him; despite his younger age and smaller frame, Anakin was fast, one of the fastest in their pod.  
  
Obi-Wan sighed, and readied himself for a conversation they had had hundreds of times before. He stopped, and turned so he could meet Owen’s eyes.  
  
“I’ve told you, it’s dangerous to go to onshore so often. What if something happened you? What if you lost your skin, or it got damaged? What would you do then? You wouldn’t be able to get back!” The last words come out sharper than he had intended, and Owen flinched back. Immediately, Obi-Wan felt guilty for scaring his brother. He swam closer to him, brushing up against Owen’s side and nuzzled his face. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, “I shouldn’t have shouted. I just worry about you. Both of you. But it was wrong of me to take that worry out on you.”  
  
Owen chirped, and nuzzled back. “It’s alright. I’m sorry too. Ani and I just wanted to go look. We weren’t going to stay long…”  
  
Obi-Wan sighed. “I know. And speaking of Ani-“ he looked up, expecting to see Anakin closer than before, but the water in front of them was empty, sunlight filtering uninterrupted expect by the kelp and rocks. Obi-Wan blinked, and then growled.  
  
“Oh, by the Great One, where did he― Owen, where’s Ani?”  
  
Owen suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Um…”  
  
“You two planned this!”  
  
“It was his idea!” Owen protested. Obi-Wan growled again in frustration.  
  
“You two are both supposed to be in lessons with Elder Yoda! Not― ugh! You,” he jabbed Owen lightly with his nose, “Back to the pod. I’ll get Ani.”  
  
Owen nodded, looking repentant. “Sorry, Obi.”  
  
Obi-Wan sighed, nudging his brother more gently, “I’m not mad. Go on, I’ll see you later.”  
  
Owen nodded, and then Obi-Wan was off, spinning through the water and currents, his destination already fixed in his mind’s eye. If his suspicions were correct, he knew exactly where Anakin would be.

* * *

Anakin swam another circle around his favorite rock, and then scrambled up onto it. The evening sun was warm, but there were grey clouds looming on the horizon, the setting sun tinting them odd shades of velvet-soft purple and smoky pink, and there was the scent of a storm on the air.  
  
‘Obi-Wan will like that,’ Anakin thought absently, as he shifted, making himself comfortable. The rock was smooth and warm from soaking in the sun’s rays all day. Above him, sea birds cried mournfully. Anakin tried not to fidget, impatient and excited as he was, but it was hard not to. Soon!  
  
He didn’t have to wait long. As the sun fell lower in the sky, a door swung open at the base of the tall, towering building on top of the cliff overlooking the cove. Anakin was pretty sure Elder Mace had called the building a…lighthouse? Yeah that was it. A figure emerged, the twilight stripping them of any identifying details as they made their careful way down the twisting path carved into the rock, down towards the beach.  
  
As the figure drew close enough that Anakin could see her properly, the selkie felt his heart lurch in his chest. Great One, but she was so beautiful!  
  
The woman reached the bottom step and stopped, glancing around. Her eyes fell on Anakin and a bright smile crossed her face. The expression made Anakin’s heart do funny, flippy things in his chest, and he gave a happy chirp.  
  
The woman crossed the sand and settled herself on log that had washed up on shore. She had pulled her long, dark hair up into a messy knot on the top of her head, and she was wearing the same dark purple sweater she had been wearing the last time Anakin had seen her. She waved at him, and with another chirp, he dove off his rock and swam closer.  
  
Once he had gotten himself resettled on a smaller rock, closer to the shore, the woman pulled a pencil out of her bun, and pulled what Anakin remembered her calling a ‘sketchbook’ out of her bag.  
  
“Hello again.” Her voice was warm like the sun, and Anakin loved it. He chirped his own greeting, and she laughed, pencil scratching against paper even as she spoke. “I’m sorry I haven’t visited you lately. I’ve had a lot of work, and not a lot of time.”  
  
Anakin made a softer, sadder noise. She sounded tired and stressed, like Obi-Wan sometimes got. He hated it when his brother sounded like that, and he didn’t want her feeling that way too!”  
  
Wondering how he could make her feel better, Anakin glance around, his gaze falling on something in the shallows. Warbling excitedly, he slid off his rock and into the water with a soft splash, re-emerging a few minutes later. Carefully, he swam to shore, a large, pale pink scallop shell held carefully in his teeth. Getting onto the beach was process; seal bodies were really not meant for speed on land, but he managed, and dropped the shell at the woman’s foot with a squeak.  
  
She blinked down at him for a long moment, and then her eyes went soft and she smiled again. “Thank you.” Carefully, she bent down and picked up the shell, holding it up to the fading light. “It’s beautiful.”  
  
Anakin chirped happily. She liked it! She was smiling!  
  
Putting the shell down on the log next to her, the woman regarded Anakin for a few long minutes and then slowly, very slowly, held out her hand. Anakin blinked at it, and then carefully nuzzled at her palm. The woman giggled, and gently lay her hand on top of Anakin’s head. He purred and pushed his head further against her hand, prompting another giggle.  
  
“ANAKIN!”  
  
Anakin startled, head snapping around at the growl of his name. Startled as well, Padme yelped, yanking her hand back. Anakin regretted that he had scared her, but his attention was fully held by the larger selkie bobbing by the shoreline, black eyes furious.  
  
“Obi-Wan―”  
  
“Water. Now.” Obi-Wan growled, his tone stony and leaving no room for argument. In the distance, the first, faint thread of thunder rippled through the air.  
  
With one last, mournful glance at the woman, Anakin nodded, and shuffled back to the sea.  
  
Overhead, the first few, light raindrops began to fall.

* * *

They swam in silence for a few, eternity-long minutes, Obi-Wan practically radiating fury, while Anakin tried to make himself as small as possible. Finally Anakin spoke, not able to stand the silence any longer.  
  
“Obi-Wan, I was fine! She wasn’t hurting me!”  
  
Obi-Wan whirled around, frantic anger seeping from his words. “You let a human touch you! You went on shore, and let a _human_ touch you!”  
  
“She wasn’t hurting me! It was nice!” Anakin said again, his own anger flaring. Why was Obi-Wan always like this?! “I’m not going to die just from stepping onto land, Obi-Wan! You seem to forget, I used to live with humans!”  
  
“Oh yes, because that is the perfect example to make me believe it’s safe up there!” Obi-Wan snapped.  
  
They were still some distance from the pod’s cavern, but Anakin decided he did not want to have this argument again, not right now. Obi-Wan would never change, and Anakin had his own plans, plans that did not involve being yelled at by his older, _adoptive_ brother!  
  
He swerved, pulling away from Obi-Wan as he flicked his tail and sped forwards without a backwards glance.  
  
Obi-Wan let Anakin go, growling in irritation as his brother drew further and further away. Why wouldn’t he just listen?! Obi-Wan just wanted to keep him safe! Did Anakin want to end up like Qui―  
  
Obi-Wan stopped that train of thought with another growl. Now was not the time. He sighed, anger slowly melting away into guilt. This was the second time in one day that he had yelled at his brothers. Making a frustrated noise, Obi-Wan promised himself he would make it up to them both tomorrow, once they had all had a change to cool down.  
  
Goal firmly in mind, he sped off, towards the rest of his family. Under the water, the growl of thunder was only slightly audible, but nevertheless, it was enough to make Obi-Wan smile. There was, after all, no better way to cool down than a storm.

* * *

Obi-Wan loved the rain. Storms were that much better. As a pup, his favorite thing to do was swim up to the rain-battered surface; there was a cluster of rocks by the coast, far enough out that they would be barely visible to any humans on shore, and big enough for Obi-Wan sit on comfortably, and it was there that the young selkie would settle and shed his skin.  
  
‘As a pup.’ Obi-Wan snorted at his own thoughts, as he hurtled through the roiling currents. That sounded as if he wasn’t about to do exactly that. He broke the surface a few feet from his rock, and allowed himself a moment to reveal in the waves the crashed around him. The pre-dawn sky was dark with stony clouds, turning patches of the sea to the colour of pitch, and the wind howled around him. It was glorious.  
  
Getting up onto the rock always took a bit of effort, but Obi-Wan did not dare throw off his pelt while he was still in the water, not with currents like these. If he lost his hold on it, the sea could, and would, tear it away in a second, and in his fragile, pale-skinned form, Obi-Wan knew he would have no chance at finding it again. So he scrabbled up onto the cold rock with only his fins, waiting until he was settled in the center to shrug off his soft, grey and black pelt. Shivering at the sudden lack of blubber and fur to keep him warm, Obi-Wan crossed his legs and folded his pelt in his lap, burying his hands in the fur out of instinctual fear. Tipping his head up to face the storm, he closed his eyes, letting the cold rain run down his smooth, all but hairless skin. Droplets caught in his eyelashes, and turned the red-blond hair of his hair to a dark auburn, slicking it down against his scalp.  
  
The wind whipped around him, and Obi-Wan laughed in joy, baring his teeth to the sky, even as his fingers and toes began to go numb with cold, and his breath hung in clouds before his reddening nose. The rain fell in sheets and waves crashed against his rock as thunder shook the air and rolled through Obi-Wan’s very bones.  
  
It was glorious. Elders, but he felt alive!  
  
Laughing more, Obi-Wan untangled his stiffening fingers from his pelt and stretched his hands up into the air, splaying his fingers as raindrops slid down his cheeks like saltless tears. The air around him was so full of noise, the rain, the waves, the thunder, and the wind, that his voice was snatched up before it had even left his lips, and was tossed away like old fish bones.  
  
He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, reveling in the storm, but eventually the chill had seeped into his bones enough that it was becoming seriously uncomfortable. Obi-Wan sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs once more with the mingling scents of sea and sky-water, and then pulled his pelt from his lap, wrapping it around himself with numb fingers.  
  
The transformation was smooth, like pouring water out of a bottle into the sea. Obi-Wan slipped off his rock, diving into the still churning waves. He swam a loop around the rock once, twice, and then turned, and headed for home.  
  
The sea churned around him as he swam, moving with the currents rather than let them toss him around at their leisure. Dawn had broken a short time ago, but the thick clouds kept the morning light at bay, and the water around Obi-Wan was dark and cool.  
  
The cavern where his pod spent most of their nights was a decent swim from Obi-Wan’s rock, but he felt no sense of urgency. He had spoken with his father before he left, and stopped to talk with Elder Plo in passing before finally making his way out into the storm tossed sea. Now, the storm was slowly beginning to calm, though the waves remained rough enough that they would have buffeted the selkie, were he not careful.  
  
Shmi was wait for him at the submerged cavern entrance when Obi-Wan finally arrived, which was…odd. The smaller selkie was swimming in short, anxious arcs, but when she saw Obi-Wan she stopped and swam out to, meeting him a few metres from the cavern entrance.  
  
“Mom? Are you alright?” Obi-Wan asked, as she swum up alongside him, tension rippling through her frame as the currents ruffled her spotted fur.  
  
Shmi nodded, but the tension was in her voice as well when she spoke. “I’m fine, Obi-Wan. But is Anakin with you?”  
  
Confused, Obi-Wan shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen him since last night. He…wasn’t very happy with me,” he admitted, “And I went to watch the storm. He doesn’t like them very much.”  
  
“No, he doesn’t,” Shmi murmured, worry seeping into her tone. Something about her voice, her words, sent a chill down Obi-Wan’s spine. “Mom? What’s happened?”  
  
“No one knows where Anakin is.”  
  
Obi-Wan stopped short, staring at the smaller selkie. “What do you mean?”  
  
“He’s not in the cavern. No one saw him leave.” Shmi’s words were calm, but Obi-Wan could tell it was a very near thing. “I had hoped he had gone with you but―”  
  
“But he didn’t.” Obi-Wan finished, worry building in his chest. “I think…I think I might know where he went.” He growled, fear for his brother getting the better of him. “Elders, I told him not to!”  
  
“What do you mean, Obi-Wan?” Shmi demanded, still calm, still composed, like a reef, unmoved by the elements and strong in the face of opposition.  
  
“There is a woman, a human, that Anakin has been watching for a few months now,” Obi-Wan explained, nervous energy dancing through his veins and making his jumpy. He needed to move, needed to stop his idiot of a little brother before he got himself killed! “I’ve been trying to try talk him away from her, from the shore, but…”  
  
He trailed off, anger at his own failure to protect Anakin flaring. “I’m going to go get him! Tell the other where I’ve gone!”  
  
Spinning around, he began to swim back the way he’d come.  
  
“Wait, Obi-Wan―!”  
  
“I’ll be back soon!”  
  
If Shmi responded, Obi-Wan did not hear. Pouring all his strength into his muscles, the selkie flew through the water. There was only one thought on his mind as he swam. ‘Please don’t let me be too late.’

* * *

Every minute it took Obi-Wan to get from the cavern to the beach where had found Anakin and the human the day before grated on his nerves. When he surfaced, not far from the shore, he found it abandoned, the rain beating down on the sand and rocks, singing out in a loud staccato cry.  
  
Obi-Wan cursed. Of course Anakin wouldn’t make this easy, would he? He glance to his left, taking in the long, rambling stretch of beach vanishing into the horizon. In the far distance, black cliffs loomed, their sharp lines and edges softened by low hanging fog and sheeting rain. Cursing again, he dove back under the rioting waves, and began to swim along the shoreline. Anakin couldn’t have gotten that far, could he?  
  
The sun had finally made some headway against the smothering clouds, but the rain was still falling hard enough that it was difficult to see when Obi-Wan raised his head above the surface of the waves. His desperation only grew, the closer he got to the cliffs. He could not see Anakin anywhere in the water, and the younger selkie was not answering his calling.  
  
Obi-Wan faltering, realizing with a jolt that Anakin must have already gone ashore. Cursing, he swerved, swimming towards the land.  
  
He was still in the water, chest deep, when he shifted, one hand snatching out blindly to catch his pelt before the waves caught it up and stole it away like the fishermen in the tales Tahl and Adi used to tell him, when he was still a pup. Only a few seconds later, Obi-Wan realized the gravity of the mistake he had just made, but it was already too late. As he swam closer to land, a wave roared up behind him, knocking the selkie off feet he was still unaccustomed to using. Stumbling, he pitched forwards, his feet ripped out from under him again as he tried in vain to regain his balance. Spluttering at the salt water trying to fill his lungs, Obi-Wan shoved sodden strands of hair out of his face with his free hand, still struggling towards shore.  
  
He was nearly there when he slipped, knees buckling. There was only pain in the next moment, as his head connecting with an outcropping of barnacle-covered rock. Obi-Wan cried out in shock and pain. He nearly lost conscious, but a frigid wave crashed over him, the water turning red around him, and knocking his shocked body back into action.  
  
Panic seized the selkie, beating back the confusion and pain and he knew he had to _move_ , and _now_. Obi-Wan scramble forwards, not sure how long it took him to reach the shore, only that he did. He was shaking, as he struggled to push himself to his knees, from pain, and cold, and fear. He had never had reason to fear the sea before, not until that singular moment, and he didn’t have the strength to deal with how that left him feeling.  
  
The effort it took to stand left him gasping for breath. Obi-Wan’s head was shrieking in pain, but he was pretty sure the bleeding had stopped, which was a very good thing. Never before had he been so thankful for how quickly his people healed.  
  
He took one step, and then tried to take another, only to have his knees buckle as his vision began to blur, darkness creeping in around the edges. Suddenly he was pitching forwards, and he could not make his limbs work to catch himself in time.  
  
The last thing Obi-Wan felt, before darkness overtook him, was begin caught in someone’s arms, cradled against hitting the unforgiving ground, and the odd, overwhelming sense of _safe_. And then the world went black.

* * *

By the time Rex made it back to the house, he was soaked to the bone and freezing. The man in his arms didn’t seem to be doing much better, either. With only a gortex raincoat to ward off the raging elements, he was shivering violently and had curled further into Rex’s arms, unconsciously seeking heat. He still had not woken up, and Rex was beginning to wonder if there was something more seriously wrong.  
  
He fumbled as he tried to get the key into the lock with rain-numbed fingers, somehow managing both that, and getting the door open, all without dropping his unexpected passenger. Pushing the door open with his foot, Rex hurried inside, kicking the door shut behind him again, to keep in both the warm air, and the cat (not that Wolffe was likely to _want_ to go out in weather like this, he was generally a rather smart creature, but you never did know with cats). Cursing softly, he hurried across to the couch in the middle of the small living room, struggling to unwrap the dripping raincoat from the man, once again, without dropping him.  
  
That done, he dropped the coat in a wet heap on the floor, and gently laid the man down on the couch. Then he pulled off his boots and jogged over to the stairs at the end of the hall that led up to the attic. There was a basket of clean laundry that neither he nor Cody had bothered to put away yet. Grabbing a towel, Rex pulled off the soaked-through and dripping sweater which, like the raincoat, was abandoned unceremoniously on the floor, along with his shirt. He used the first towel from the basket to stop leaving a trail of puddles behind him on the floor, and then grabbed another for the man.  
  
Heading back down the hall, he pulled the comforter from his bed before returning to the living room. The man was still shivering, but not as quite as badly as he had been outside. Kneeling down next to the couch, Rex hesitated for a moment as he took in the man, actually looking at him properly for the first time.  
He looked to be early thirties, at the very most, maybe a year or two older than Rex. He was long-limbed, with pale skin spattered with fair freckles across his nose and cheeks, collar bone, and― Rex stopped, pulling his eyes back up to the man’s face. What on earth was he doing? Gawking at an unconscious, naked man he had brought into his home without consent; how much creepier could he get?  
  
Carefully, Rex set about drying the man, taking extra time to carefully towel off his auburn and blond hair, mid length and coming to stop a few inches past the bare line of his jaw, checking for injuries as he did so. The only thing he found was a scrap across the man’s left temple, but it seemed too shallow to have caused the man to lose consciousness. Frowning, Rex decided that if the man had not woken up by midnight, he would take him to the hospital.  
  
Once he was no longer soaking wet, Rex picked up the comforter, and then stopped, glancing down at the man once again, frowning absently as he considered the prone figure. Another quick trip to his bedroom, and Rex carefully dressed the man in a pair of sweatpants, before wrapping him in the thick down comforter, watching as the man shifted and curled into the warmth with a soft noise that was almost like a sigh. A good sign, Rex thought, glancing around the room, his gaze falling on the unlit fireplace across from the couch.  
  
There was still firewood in the box, so it didn’t take long for Rex to get a fire burning in the grate, cracking cheerfully and sending odd, shifting shadows and patches of light dancing and twisting around the room. Rex crouched next to the fireplace for a moment, watching how the shadows danced across the lines of the man’s face, how the light caught in his hair, turning it the colour of spun gold and sunlight. Wolffe wandered out of the kitchen, yawning. The old cat had no doubt been sleeping on the windowsill where he liked to sit and surveyed his domain. He wandered over to the couch and the stranger, and stopped, sniffing. After a few moments of deliberation, he seemed to give the feline equivalent of a shrug, and hopped up, curling into a ball on the man’s stomach.  
  
Rex just hoped he wasn’t allergic.  
  
Then he shivered, and suddenly remembered he was still dressed in only a pair of utterly soaked jeans, the denim clinging to his skin in all sorts of uncomfortable ways. He needed a shower, and dry clothes, and then he needed figure out just what was going on with his life, and how he was going to deal with it.  
  
Straightening, he grabbed the raincoat from its puddle of water on the floor, and dropped the towel draped around his neck onto the water left behind. As he carried the jacket to the coat-rack by the door, there was a soft thud, and Rex glanced down to see the still sodden pelt lying on the floor. Right. That.  
  
The pelt was soft in Rex’s hands when he picked it up, and smaller than he had initially realized. An odd, almost oval shape but not quite, it was about a meter long, and looked almost like those funny fur cloak things woman in period pieces sometimes wore. Why he thought it might belong to his naked visitor, Rex had no idea, but…with a sigh, he hung up the coat and turned towards the attic stairs. He’d hang it above the dryer, and ask the man when he woke up.  
  
And then he seriously needed to take a hot shower.

* * *

The rain was rhythmic and far too relaxing for Padme’s current, only half conscious, comfort. As she turned a corner, the almost-hiss of tires on wet asphalt filtering up to her ears, she thought longingly of her warm, warm bed that she, blessedly would not have to tear herself away from at five-thirty tomorrow morning. Not for the first time, the young woman wondered just which of the many deities and spirits that existed in the cultures of the world she had managed to offend, that two of her three mandatory classes offered only one lecture time, eight-thirty AM.  
  
Water sheeted down against the windshield, and despite the valiant attempt at clearing it away by the windshield wipers, it was still growing increasingly hard to see the sodden rode ahead of her. Padme sighed, and slowed the slightly battered old Honda down all the more.  
  
Of course, her stomach took that moment as the perfect opportunity to express its displeasure over the fact that Padme had apparently forgotten to put anything into it in the past five hours. She groaned, and sluggishly wondered if there were any delivery people insane enough to venture out into a torrential downpour, in order to provide a starving poly-sci major living in a lighthouse, with food.  
  
Probably not. She groaned again.  
  
Then she screamed, and slammed on the breaks, when a figure appeared, distorted by the water rushing over her windshield, seemingly out of nowhere, and right in front of her car.  
  
There was a dull thud, and the car came to a stop.  
  
Padme sat there for a moment, staring uncomprehendingly out into the pummeling rain, her mind blank. Then, in a heartbeat, she was scrambling for her seatbelt with numb fingers.  
  
‘Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck of fuck, please don’t let me have killed them, please Gods.’  
  
Padme once had a dream, where she hit a blond man with her car, after he appear out of nowhere. Then, he had claimed he was the Norse god Thor, and someone else had tazered him. It had been an accident (Well, the car part at least. She’s pretty sure.) but yeah. It had been a weird dream.  
  
This situation was far too similar. Padme only hoped, a tad hysterically, that this stranger would not start claiming to be some sort of pagan god. She scrambled out of the car, half her mind flying to try and figure out just what she should do, while the other half started making a list;  
  
Padme Amidala’s list of things to say in her own defense, should the asshole who walked in front of her car try to sue her:  


  1. She was going wayyy below the speed limit, due to obstructed vision from a situation totally out of her control.
  2. She was on her way home after a full day of classes and exhausted (granted, not a very good legal defense, but true nevertheless).
  3. They literally walked out in front of her car?!!!!
  4. It’s not her fault they were walking outside, late on a dark, stormy night with no reflective gear on.



  
Okay, maybe she was a little more sleep deprived than she had first thought.  
  
“Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead.”  
  
Her shoes were soaked through almost immediately as she splashed around to the front of the car, the rain and her heart thundering in her ears. Fumbling with her keys, Padme flicked on the tiny light she kept attached to the main loop, shining it in front of her. The light illuminated the falling rain, turning the transparent droplets white against the black of the night, and then, on the soaked pavement, the prone figure of a man, lying still in a rather large puddle.  
  
Padme’s heart froze in her chest. “Oh no, oh no, please, please, please be breathing,” she prayed, dropping to her knees and ignoring the way the icy water soaked her jeans. The flashlight beam bounced off the pale skin of the man’s face, neck, and hands. Already, most of his clothing was soaked through. Silently praying to whoever might be listening, Padme reached out, fingers sinking into water-logged, dark curls as she cupped the man’s head with one hand and searched for a pulse with the other.  
  
There. The breath whooshed from her lungs as relief washed over Padme like a tidal wave. A heartbeat. Oh thank god. She shone the light on the water around them, and then carefully checked the back of his head. No blood, just one hell of a goose egg.  
  
Padme chewed on her lip for a minute, debating. Then she huffed, stuck her keys back into her pocket, and silently thanked Bail for all the sparring practice, as she scooped the naked man up and off the rain-soaked ground with only a little trouble. She managed to get him arranged in a way that looked somewhat comfortable in her backseat, and then ran back to the driver’s side.  
  
She was almost home, thankfully.

* * *

Obi-Wan woke feeling dazed and warm. He was lying on something soft, and wrapped in something warm. The selkie did not open his eyes, just lay still, taking in the scents and sounds around him, trying to make sense of his jumbled thoughts.  
  
The air was warm and dry, with only the faintest hint of salt, heavily overpowered by scents Obi-Wan could not name, especially with his dulled human senses; something rich and full, and then something that was lighter, just underneath, that he could not find the words to explain. He could hear heavy foots steps, not too far off, but they never drew closer to where he lay. There was a soft clattering, and then a voice, hushed and human, singing.  
  
Obi-Wan strained, trying to make out the words. The voice was lovely, warm and deep. Even the faintest strains seemed to grow and expand in the air, cocooning Obi-Wan like a warm current, safe and secure. Unconsciously, a smile tugged at corners of his lips, and he curled down deeper into the warmth wrapped around him, slipping back into sleep, dangers temporarily forgotten.

* * *

The next time Obi-Wan woke, it was quiet; the footsteps and singing replaced with empty air, and the occasional, repetitive rustle, not too far away. It took him a few moments to put a name to the sound; paper. But that wasn’t right, paper didn’t…  
  
He jerked upright, eyes snapping open as panic gripped his heart. It all came rushing back to him; Anakin, the storm, shifting, hitting the rock and then-  
  
“Whoa, whoa, easy, easy. It’s okay, you’re safe.” Large, gentle hands cupped his shoulders, and he snapped his head up, coming face to face with a blond human with concerned amber eyes. Panic rose in Obi-Wan’s throat like bile, and he recoiled. Concern appeared on the human’s face, but he let go, and took a step back, holding up his hands in front of him, palms and fingers flat and facing the selkie.  
  
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” The human’s voice was soft, soothing. “But you are safe. It’s alright,” he repeated.  
  
Obi-Wan peered suspiciously up at him, opened his mouth, and then paused, fumbling to remember how to make his human throat and tongue form words.  
  
“Where…am I?” he asked, slowly, his voice sounding rougher than he last remembered hearing it.  
  
“My home.” The man looked apologetic. “You passed out, down on the beach, and I didn’t want to just leave you out there, what with you being,” he paused, and waved a generalizing hand over the length of Obi-Wan prone body, “naked, and with the rain. I promise, you are perfectly safe here.”  
  
He stepped back, sitting down in a chair a few feet away from where Obi-Wan was laying, a book propped on the arm. There was a stretch of silence, as Obi-Wan stared, and the man shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. A sudden, high-pitched shriek shattered the still air, and Obi-Wan jumped, heart racing as he looked wildly around the room, searching for danger and the source of the noise.  
  
“Sorry!” The man jumped to his feet, hands back up in a placating gesture. “It’s alright, it’s alright. It’s just the kettle. Stay here.”  
  
He turned, walking quickly from the room as Obi-Wan stared after him, eyes wide with surprise and panic. The hellish shrieking stopped, and the sound of movement floated out of the other room, and the selkie allowed himself to relax, if only slightly, sinking back into the warmth of the blankets wrapped around him. This human didn’t seem malicious, and he had kept Obi-Wan warm, brought him somewhere he claimed to be safe. There was still a good chance he was lying, but there was also the slightest possibility that he wasn’t.  
  
Obi-Wan dug his fingers into his lap, and froze when they met smooth skin instead of soft fur. His pelt. Where was his pelt?  
  
He leapt to his feet, stumbling as his knees protested at suddenly being forced to bare weight. Wildly, he shook out the blanket that had been wrapped around him. When that proved fruitless he began to search the room, desperation making him clumsy.  
  
“Where is it where is it where is it?!”  
  
“Where’s what? Are you okay?”  
  
The man’s voice made Obi-Wan jump, and he whirled around. The man was standing in the doorway, a mug in each hand and concern etched across his features.  
  
Panic and adrenaline were still coursing through Obi-Wan’s veins, and apparently his fingers were not the only thing made careless by it. “My pelt! What have you done with it?!”  
  
The man frowned, slowly rounding the sofa and setting the mugs down on the table. Obi-Wan’s heart stuttered to a halt in his chest as he realized what he had just said.  
  
“I-I―”  
  
“It is yours then?” The man asked, calmly. Obi-Wan nodded. This was it. He was as good as dead, and if not that, he was never going home.  
  
“Oh, good.”  
  
Obi-Wan blinked, as the man continued, “I, you weren’t wearing anything when I found you, so I saw it floating next to you, and I thought,” he shrugged, “I don’t know, that it might be yours? It didn’t seem likely, especially once I got home, but…” he trailed off.  
  
“So,” Obi-Wan croaked, “You have it?”  
  
The man nodded. “It’s upstairs, drying. Is it important? I can go get―”  
  
“YES!” The man startled back when Obi-Wan jerked forwards, catching onto his arm. “Please, please just give it back, I―”  
  
“Woah, woah, it’s okay.” The soothing tone was back, but the concern in the man’s eyes was growing. “I’m going to get it, okay? Just, sit, please. I’m worried you’re going to fall over. There’s tea on the table. It will help warm you up some more, alright?” When Obi-Wan nodded, than man sighed, and took another step back. “I’m going to go get it now. I’ll be right back.”  
  
“Wait!”  
  
The man stopped. Obi-Wan swallowed back his fear; there was no anger in those eyes, only caution and concern. “I want to go with you.”  
  
For a moment, it looked as if the man might protest, but then he sighed, and nodded.  
  
“Alright. Follow me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is curious, Anakin and Shmi are Harbour seals, in their seal forms, while Obi-Wan, Owen, and the rest of their pod are Harp seal, which are the most common off the coast of Newfoundland, where this story takes place (if, in a fictional town).


End file.
